


Moon Shadows

by zaithat



Series: A Shadowy Existence [2]
Category: Guardians of Childhood - William Joyce, Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, M/M, Pre-Slash, introductions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-05
Updated: 2013-08-05
Packaged: 2017-12-22 11:49:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/912853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zaithat/pseuds/zaithat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A surprise meeting on a cold, frozen lake holds the potential for great change for Pitch and Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moon Shadows

Pitch loved the sense of fear which lingered for days after a sudden death. People were so scared and helpless when it happened, and those emotions haunted them and gave him plenty to enjoy. He drifted through the shadowy forest, watching the town for a while before going over to the source of the delicious fear.

He stood at the edge of the forest to look over a pond that had just frozen over completely. He saw where the ice must have cracked to claim its victim. He looked up at the full moon before his expression changed into a glare. The light seemed to intensify as the moon rose the peak of its path, creating a strong beam that focused on the center of the fragile ice.

The air stilled as the sound of cracking ice filled the air. He took a step back from the piercing light even as he saw the dark form come through the ice and the sound of his first breath was audible even from where Pitch stood with his Shadows. The form cleared enough for him to tell it was a boy, with white hair and nearly white skin.

“What have you done, old friend,” he muttered to the darkness. He pulled the shadows closer to him to protect him from the sight of the Man in the Moon, sure he would not want the Nightmare King, even in this weak state, to see the birth of this spirit. But why would he have created a spirit from the ice. Especially on this day, where someone had died in this ice?

Unless. . . 

“Oh you are a crafty one. Using a dead body to do your bidding? But what would you need such a vessel for? What is your name young man? What has been planned for you?” He took a step forward toward the pond before he stopped himself to stand a few feet back from the edge of the forest to keep from those moonbeams.

“Jack Frost,” the bell like tone came out, filling the clearing with the voice. Pitch narrowed his eyes even as he pulled the Shadows closer to him. At least now he had a name.

The boy drifted down to the ice, and for a moment he was sure he would get an entertaining show before he noticed the ice solidify under his feet. The pale figure acted like a newborn deer, even though he had a natural grace on the ice and with the shepherd's crook. The bright moonbeams began to die down, giving Pitch enough security to feel like he could go out to speak to the new spirit. Just as he was about to leave the safety of the tree line the spirit took off with a gust of wind.

“You’ve made him powerful. A winter spirit? What would you need from him?” He tilted his head back up at the full moon, trying to judge the bright surface for some sort of motive. The happy sounds Jack made distracted him as the winter spirit went to the nearby village. One that was still mourning his death. . . “This I cannot miss seeing.” He muttered while the Shadows let him slip over to the town.

He couldn’t help but sneer at the people who were walking around the dark village with no proper respect for what could be lurking in the Shadows. Oh how he longed for the ability to teach these mortals a lesson. The Dark Ages seemed so long ago, and even deeper in his mind, the Shadows whispered about how he had conquered the stars themselves with the darkness.

Those thoughts stopped when Jack found out he could not be seen by those worthless mortals. The look on his face when someone walked through him pulled on something inside Pitch’s heart. He didn’t have time to identify what that was before the Shadows were whispering to him about what they could do with Jack. They wanted him.

After all, what went better than fear and cold?

His sharp silvery gold eyes caught when Jack took off in the wind again. An offshoot of the Shadows went to follow him, to report back to him where he was going. His mind was racing with the idea of using Jack Frost to help get his strength back. The Man in the Moon should have been more careful when he resurrected this one, to keep people like him from watching such a scene.

The scouting Shadow returned to him to guide them all to the pond again, where the new spirit looked lost and up at the full moon. Even now, the light given off seemed weaker than before. He was shouting at the sky, raising his arms up in rage while he spoke, before his voice cracked and his shoulders fell toward the ice.

“Why can’t anyone see me?” he asked weakly, letting the staff drop to the ice. His arms wrapped around his torso in a vain attempt to comfort himself.

At that moment, PItch felt a pang of sympathy for Jack, understanding the difficulty of no one believing in him. At least he understood why this was happening. The Man in the Moon seemed cruel for leaving this spirit to his own without any guidance. Well, it would seem he would be the perfect one to give that guidance.

This teen, this spirit, he could be a powerful tool for him.

Not just a tool. . . the Shadows hissed in his mind, and his eyes drifted closed for a moment as he listened to them. . . . but an ally. A partner.

A partner, the words seemed to promise a life that was not filled with loneliness the end of the Dark Ages had created for him. He knew what he needed to do, what would need to happen to get the perfect partner to share the Shadows with, to help with his plans to take back his power, to make him stronger. In his distress, Jack was not even aware he was summoning large, heavy snow clouds into the area. The clouds covered the moon then, casting the entire area in a dark shadow. Pitch knew this was the moment he needed to act.

“I can see you, Jack Frost.” he said in his smooth voice. The sound startled the pale spirit and caused him to jerk to see him. His hands automatically dropped down to the ice to get his crook, but Pitch was quick to hold up his hand. “I mean you no harm. I simply wanted to help you.”

“Are you- are you the one who brought me here? Who am I?” The boy was obviously lost and confused, which made Pitch wonder how much he remembered.

“My name is Pitch. I’m not the one who brought you here, though I know who did. How cruel of him to not introduce himself. He never was very good at following through with his little. . . pet projects.” He took a step forward, letting the shadows help keep him safe on the ice. His cloak drifted around him, absorbing the light around him. “I know you are Jack Frost, a winter spirit. I know we would go so well together.”

As he stepped closer he smiled when the boy did not back away from him this time. Instead, he straightened his back so he could stand fully in front of Pitch. Though, the extra height did him no good, as Pitch towered over him easily. “A winter spirit? Like, all the ice and snow?”

“You haven’t noticed?” He asked, waving a hand up at the sky where the snow was already falling, whipped into swirls and clusters by the wind. “This is all your doing. You summoned the wind here, and the snow.”

Jack looked up at the snow, as if he hadn’t noticed the falling flakes. He held out his hand to catch the snow before laughing at the sight. “This is great!” he shouted while the wind reacted to his whim and carried him up and twirled him with the snow.

Pitch resisted the urge to grind his teeth. He needed patience for this to work

“Jack, would you like to come back to my place and talk?"

The spirit stopped and looked at pitch carefully. "Talk about what?" He asked from where he was floating and playing with the snow. "Oh I think this will be the perfect consistency to make snowballs."

"I was hoping to get to know each other better. Maybe we could work together."

"Work together? How would we do that?" Jack floated down toward the ground so he could stand in front of him.

"Dear jack, we could go so well together, if we acted like partners. I need to help children learn caution.” There was no reason to scare jack off before they could even begin, and who would notice a few white lies. Plus, he really did need to hurry, the snow clouds were beginning to break up, and who knew what would happen if the man in the moon could see what he was doing.

“Caution? That- doesn't sound very fun.” Jack pouted.

“But it is dearly needed. A child- she could fall into this ice and die.” Pitch wondered if he could remember his death, but from the way he was acting he didn't. He wondered if he should tell him at some point... A strange look crossed jacks face as he thought about that. He looked down at the snow covered ice before looking at the sky. “If you help me, I will help you get people to see you.”

“You can do that? How?”

“They simply need to believe in you. Won't you come help me?” Pitch held out his hand to jack, his eyes flicking up to the sky as the clouds became thinner and thinner. The shadows were screaming at him to get the boy and run.

“Okay, I'll go with you.” Jack reached out and took the grey hand before they disappeared into the darkness.


End file.
